Knight of the Black Rose
by mysticalMAK
Summary: Ranma notices something different within one of his followers.  With that he seeks to forge something new and unconventional.  An experimentation of sorts...RanXKoda pairing possibly.  R&R Enjoy


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Ranma 1/2 Franchise. Please don't sue me.

Knight of the Black Rose

Chapter 1

Ranma looked out over Nerima from the Tendo Roof. Life was peaceful, quiet, and for some odd reason, In sync. The sun set on the horizon, surrounded by wonderful red, orange, and yellow. The clouds seemed to hug the sun as it set down for the evening. Ranma wished he could feel that. He sighed heavily as the sun slowly disappeared beyond the hills. The remaining illumination lit his features, which were heavy with sorrow.

RANMA!," a roar sounded from within the house. It was his fiance, Akane. He shook his head as he made his way down from the roof. He had accepted long ago the chaos that surrounded his life. It was useless not to. Though, at times, it made his heart heavy.

"RANMA GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!," came Akane's voice, shattering his thoughts. He jumped the rest of the way down from the roof and made his way into the house. Upon entering the living room, he saw her. And she looked pissed, which was never a good sign.

"Yo Akane, what's up?," Ranma asked. She approached him rather angrily.

"What did you do with P-chan?," She asked equally as miffed, poking her finger rather hard into Ranma's chest.

"I didn't do anything with him," he replied looking at her sternly. He never liked it when P-chan made an appearance at all.

"I know you did something. He was here this morning," she began, looking him up and down," so i know you did something."

"I did nothing of the sort, if you want to find that useless pig, be my guest. If it were my guess you might have poisoned him with that slop you call..." he began, but was unable to finish as Akane slammed her hammer home onto his head.

"RANMA NO BAKA!," she screamed. With a "Hmph" she stomped up the stairs and into her room.

"Boy, by now you would have learned how to keep you mouth shut...," Ranma heard his father say before unconsciousness took him.

When he woke, the moonlight was bright on his face from a nearby window. He looked around him. The lights were off and no one occupied the living room in which he currently resided. Looking up on the wall he noticed that it was 4 in the morning. His stomach grumbled and rumbled. Taking note of this, he rationalized that he had missed dinner. He sighed looking down at the floor, then made a move to get up.

He soon fell back on his rump. A throbbing made itself known in his head, which suddenly turned his hunger into nausea and the room began to spin.

"Damn it, tomboy," Ranma said to himself. He laid back down slowly. It was futile to try and move now. He waited on the living room floor until an uneasy sleep found him. Throbbing in his head slowly turning into an almost dull ache.

The next morning came too quickly for Ranma. He smelled Kasumi's cooking and heard old Soun moving down the stairs with a newspaper in hand. Unwilling to listen to Soun get onto him about the conduct he should show Akane, he moved quickly out into the yard and then jumped into the window of he and his father's bedroom.

Upon entry, his father was nowhere to be seen. He made quickly to get dressed. Perhaps he would beat his father to breakfast as well. Ranma made his way to the door.

"HA HA DUMBSHIT!," his father cried triumphantly as he karate chopped the back of Ranma's head. His son laid on the floor disoriented and with a look on his face that was absolutely priceless. Genma tilted his head as he gazed down at his son.

"You ok, Ranma?," Genma asked as he helped his son to a sitting position.

"Yeah, just not feeling the greatest, I guess. I'm alright," Ranma replied rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm guessing something to do with that knock that Akane gave you last night, eh?," Genma inquired. He smiled at his son, who began to frown at him, but ended up eventually smiling back anyway.

"Something like that," Ranma began," I know I may have stuck my foot in it, but still she don't have to hit me, ya know?"

"Women are nuts, my boy. You'd have to be blind not to see that. Your mother being the biggest example. Come on, let's go get some breakfast," Genma said patting Ranma on the back and helping him up. The two made their way downstairs

"You know, you almost seem like a real dad, sometimes," Ranma joked to his father as they descended the stairs.

"Shhhh, quiet, you'll ruin my reputation, boy," Genma replied smirking.

Breakfast went rather smoothly and before he knew it, Ranma was on the way to school. It was quiet, tranquil, and not entirely unpleasant. Akane had refused to speak to him all morning. While he had felt bad about that, he chose not to push his luck. The fact she was now walking next to him on their way to school, did not go unnoticed. Things then chose to go to hell.

"AIREN!" Shampoo exclaimed. Her bicycle landing square on his head. Causing the throbbing from the night before, and in turn, the nausea as well.

"Ran-chan!" Ranma heard Ukyo call out. Then as if things couldn't get worse. Kodachi seemed to choose this particular moment to appear as well. He began thinking that if he looked unconscious, they would desist in their efforts and move along.

Shampoo didn't seem to get the clue. She began rubbing and gyrating against his prone form. It began to give him a bloody nose, which did not go unnoticed by his already agitated fiance. She picked up Shampoo, bicycle and all, and launched her toward Ukyo. In which the two landed unconscious in a heap not too far away. Kodachi looked up with a fake innocent look, complete with big eyes and the finger on her lip.

"Farewell, Ranma-sama, I will return! HO HO HO," she cried as swung her ribbon around and black petals fell from the sky.

"Coward," Akane muttered gazing after Kodachi. Ranma still laid on the ground before her.

"JERK!," Akane screamed at him, giving him a quick, hard kick to the head, which knocked him clean out. She then stomped off towards school.

A while later, Ranma finally came to. His head felt like 4 elephants were doing a square dance on it and his stomach felt about the same. He sat up and the events of earlier ran through his head. Running his hands through his hair, his frustration got the better of him.

"GOD DAMN IT!," He growled loudly in frustrationg, pulling on his hair, and slapping himself in the forehead. From a roof top nearby, a female figure watched him.

"Having issues, Saotome?," he heard a voice ask. Turning, he found it to be Nabiki.

"Go away, I am in no mood to deal with you," he began," what are you doing out here anyway?"

"I wasn't feeling too well. So the nurse gave me a free pass home,"she began to reply," but I see I'm not the only one with problems today.

"Hmph," was all that Ranma could muster. He felt Nabiki's hand touch his shoulder. Looking up he noticed a sympathetic gaze adorning her features.

"I know she may not be good at showing it, but she does love you, Ranma," Nabiki stated.

"Yeah, and I'm the emperor of japan," He replied sarcastically.

"Oh shut up and come on," Nabiki said helping Ranma to his feet and leading him home.

Ranma, upon returning home, opted to go to bed and nap for the afternoon. His father helped him up to his room and laid him down.

"Damn boy, you seem to have the worst upon you today," Genma stated sympathetically.

"Gee, and I was thinking it was a mild day at best," Ranma joked, which in turn, made his father chuckle.

"Get some rest boy," Genma said patting Ranma on the shoulder. He got up and made to leave.

Later on, Ranma woke. Looking out the window, he noticed that it was close to sunset. Not wishing to make his conscious state known just yet, he went to go sit up on the roof. As sunset approached, he sighed. His ears found his sigh to be echoed and he stiffened.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a female voice asked. Ranma turned slowly and gawked in surprise. His eyes found the concerned look upon the face of one Kodachi Kuno. He went to move and get away, but was halted by her raising her hand.

"Peace, Ranma-sama! I have come only to see if you were alright," she stated matter-of-factly. Ranma visibly relaxed. Kodachi sighed and sat next to him.

"Are you alright, Ranma?," She asked, her voice thick with honest concern. Her eyes showing affection that he had never noticed before.

"Heh, I'm alright," he replied, gazing down at his feet.

"No, you're not. I saw you today. Before Nabiki took you home. You were upset."

"Are you spying on me?"

"No! I only wanted to see if you were ok," Kodachi said with a tone in her voice that almost broke Ranma's heart. Her eyes appearing like she was close to tears.

"I see...," Ranma said in reply.

"I know I may act crazy from time to time, but I do actually care for you, Ranma," Kodachi began," but I cannot get involved with you and Akane's problems, it is not my place."

Ranma looked Kodachi over slowly. Her body language did not betray the honest feelings she was conveying. For that, he finally felt like he could trust her.

"I guess...so you saw everything huh?," Ranma asked.

"Everything, Ranma," she replied.

"Well, I have no reason not to believe what yer telling me, so I'll trust you...Friends?," He asked her earnestly extending his hand to her.

"That's all I can ask for...friends," she replied. She scooted closer to Ranma and laid her head on his shoulder. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a half smirk. She bit her lip and tried to act innocent. Which caused both of them to bust out laughing. When they sobered up, Ranma was the first to speak.

"I like to come up here and watch the sun set. Somehow, it puts my mind at ease. Regardless of how chaotic my life gets," Ranma stated as he turned to look at her.

"I know what you mean, though I can never escape the chaos that is my brother," Kodachi replied and smiled once again. The both of them chuckled uncontrollably.

Soon, their eyes were caught on the sunset and its wondrous beauty. Ranma snaked his arm around her shoulders.

"Perfect," was all Kodachi could say as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.


End file.
